What are the motifs in The Last Night of Ballyhoo by Alfred Uhry?

War and Anti-Semitism are recurring ideas in the story. The war in Europe provides a backdrop to the play. Although European events are only mentioned in passing, they are relevant because World War II has become a symbol of rampant anti-Semitism. Adolf Hitler brought his anti-Semitic feelings to the forefront of Germany's social policy in the 1930s, and with Germany's conquest of other European countries, Hitler was able to spread his message (often already in existence among other European populations) and murder about two-thirds of Europe's Jewish population. Among the Levy/Freitag household, however, with the exception of Adolph, no one pays attention to events in Europe.